Woodridge volleyball squad searching for consistency

It has been awhile since the Woodridge volleyball team has fired on all cylinders.

"Some girls are on some days, some girls are off some days," said Bulldogs head coach Melinda Hosford.

The result last week was two Portage Trail Conference Metro Division defeats, the most recent a 30-28, 25-11, 25-16 home loss to Norton Sept. 13.

"We battled hard that first set and really had some fire under our belts. It was back and forth," Hosford said. "Then, we ended up getting seven service errors in each of the last two sets. Norton had some great outside blockers who shut down my usual hitters, and they had some quick middle hitters, who my blockers were unable to get."

Leading the way for Woodridge was senior outside hitter Breanna Arnett, who had seven kills, 10 digs, two blocks and an ace.

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Senior middle hitter Hannah Fitzsimmons had two kills, three blocks, an ace and a dig.

Setter Kaela Folatko had 15 assists, five kills, three digs and an ace, while senior outside hitter Makayla Sypherd totaled two kills, three aces and 10 digs.

Five nights earlier, on Sept. 8, Woodridge lost at Coventry 25-20, 25-19, 25-20.

"We had a lot of unforced errors," Hosford said. "They had some tough middle hitters that kind of shut us down. Our defense couldn't get the digs or the passes. We struggled in the back."

Sypherd had 11 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and two assists.

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"Makayla played a tough match in the back row as well as in the front," said the coach.

Junior middle hitter Celina Whitely had two kills, five blocks and 11 digs.

"Celina had some nice blocks," said Hosford.

Folatko totaled 24 assists, 10 digs and a kill.

Sophomore Megan Stanfield and freshmen Lily Bowman and Jacierra Arnett, Breanna's sister, played well in the back row. Stanfield and Bowman each had five digs and Arnett had three.

Woodridge was scheduled to take a 1-4 overall record and a 1-3 PTC Metro mark into a division match Sept. 15 at home against Akron Springfield. The Bulldogs were also set to play at Chagrin Falls Sept. 17. However, the results were not available at press time.

Next up for Woodridge is a non-conference match Sept. 19 at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and division matches Sept. 20 at Ravenna and Sept. 22 at home against Streetsboro. All three matches begin at 7 p.m.